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118 Elements and Their Symbols and

Atomic Numbers
Chemistry
118 Elements and Their Symbols and Atomic Numbers

Reviewed by: Ritika Singla

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Scientists, Professionals, Teachers, and

Students of Chemistry widely use the periodic
table of elements to search for chemical
elements. Dimitri Mendeleev is referred to as
the Father of the periodic table put forth the
"rst form of the Periodic Table. This periodic
table was based on the atomic mass of the
elements. During his time only half of the
elements known to us now were known, and
not all of the information about elements was
fully known or accurate. The latest Periodic
Table is based on Henry Moseley's modern
periodic law (Henry Moseley is an English
physicist). As per the periodic law, the
properties of Elements are periodic functions
of their atomic numbers. The Periodic Table is
made up of 118 Elements.

Table of 118 Elements - Their Symbols and

Atomic Number
Atomic
Element Name Symbol
Number
Hydrogen 1 H
Helium 2 He
Lithium 3 Li
Beryllium 4 Be
Boron 5 B
Carbon 6 C
Nitrogen 7 N
Oxygen 8 O
Fluorine 9 F
Neon 10 Ne
Sodium 11 Na
Magnesium 12 Mg
Aluminum 13 Al
Silicon 14 Si
Phosphorous 15 P
Sulfur 16 S
Chlorine 17 Cl
Argon 18 Ar
Potassium 19 K
Calcium 20 Ca
Scandium 21 Sc
Titanium 22 Ti
Vanadium 23 V
Chromium 24 Cr
Manganese 25 Mn
Iron 26 Fe
Cobalt 27 Co
Nickel 28 Ni
Copper 29 Cu
Zinc 30 Zn
Gallium 31 Ga
Germanium 32 Ge
Arsenic 33 As
Selenium 34 Se
Bromine 35 Br
Krypton 36 Kr
Rubidium 37 Rb
Strontium 38 Sr
Yttrium 39 Y
Zirconium 40 Zr
Niobium 41 Nb
Molybdenum 42 Mo
Technetium 43 Tc
Ruthenium 44 Ru
Rhodium 45 Rh
Palladium 46 Pd
Silver 47 Ag
Cadmium 48 Cd
Indium 49 In
Tin 50 Sn
Antimony 51 Sb
Tellurium 52 Te
Iodine 53 I
Xenon 54 Xe
Cesium 55 Cs
Barium 56 Ba
Lanthanum 57 La
Cerium 58 Ce
Praseodymium 59 Pr
Neodymium 60 Nd
Promethium 61 Pm
Samarium 62 Sm
Europium 63 Eu
Gadolinium 64 Gd
Terbium 65 Tb
Dysprosium 66 Dy
Holmium 67 Ho
Erbium 68 Er
Thulium 69 Tm
Ytterbium 70 Yb
Lutetium 71 Lu
Hafnium 72 Hf
Tantalum 73 Ta
Tungsten 74 W
Rhenium 75 Re
Osmium 76 Os
Iridium 77 Ir
Platinum 78 Pt
Gold 79 Au
Mercury 80 Hg
Thallium 81 Tl
Lead 82 Pb
Bismuth 83 Bi
Polonium 84 Po
Astatine 85 At
Radon 86 Rn
Francium 87 Fr
Radium 88 Ra
Actinium 89 Ac
Thorium 90 Th
Protactinium 91 Pa
Uranium 92 U
Neptunium 93 Np
Plutonium 94 Pu
Americium 95 Am
Curium 96 Cm
Berkelium 97 Bk
Californium 98 Cf
Einsteinium 99 Es
Fermium 100 Fm
Mendelevium 101 Md
Nobelium 102 No
Lawrencium 103 Lr
Rutherfordium 104 Rf
Dubnium 105 Db
Seaborgium 106 Sg
Bohrium 107 Bh
Hassium 108 Hs
Meitnerium 109 Mt
Darmstadtium 110 Ds
Roentgenium 111 Rg
Copernicium 112 Cn
Nihonium 113 Nh
Flerovium 114 Fl
Moscovium 115 Mc
Livermorium 116 Lv
Tennessine 117 Ts
Oganesson 118 Og

Key Characteristics of the Periodic

Table:

Elements are arranged in order of

increasing atomic number.

Elements of the Periodic Table are

denoted by a unique symbol and not its
entire name, as some elements’ names
can be long and complex in nature.

Elements are arranged vertically and

horizontally. Elements arranged
vertically in columns are called ‘Groups’
and elements arranged horizontally in
rows are called ‘Periods’.

Further elements are grouped as per

periodic trends and properties. Example:
Elements in group 1A are soft metals
that react violently with water.

Symbol of an Element
A symbol representing a chemical element is a
'sign' or 'notation' that generally consists of
one or two letters. Some symbols have three
letters, they generally represent synthesized
elements newly, with some being temporarily
named like that.

Symbols and How They are Derived?

One may ask, ‘How is the symbol of an
element derived?’ We can see in the table
above that most of the symbols are derived
from the elements’ names, by taking either
the "rst or "rst two letters from the English
name of the element.

Some symbols of a few elements are derived

from their Latin or Greek names. Let us look
at some examples:

The Latin name for gold is Aurum.

Hence gold is denoted by the symbol
‘Au’.

The symbol 'Fe' is used to denote Iron,

as the Latin word for Iron is "Ferrum".

Rules or Conventions followed to denote

the Element using Symbol

The "rst letter of a symbol is capitalized

with the second (or third) letters being in
lowercase. Example: 'Ca' representing
Calcium, 'He' representing Helium, etc.
When the symbol representing an element
is denoted by one letter only, it is written in
uppercase.

Example: 'N' represents Nitrogen, 'O'

represents oxygen, etc.
The elements which are new are temporarily
named according to their atomic numbers.
For example, the element with atomic
number 110 was named as ‘un un nilium’ with
the symbol 'Uun', now it is named Ds.

As far as students are concerned, it is

important to study all the 118 elements with
their Symbol and Valency. Chemical formulas
and equations are also represented using
those symbols. Without the symbols, it would
have been a herculean task to represent all
these 118 elements and the umpteen
numbers of compounds they form.

Valency of an Element
In order to achieve the most stable
con"guration i.e. of a noble gas, the atom of
an element tries to gain or lose electrons. This
ability of an atom to gain or lose electrons to
achieve a stable con"guration or inert gas
con"guration is called the Valency of an
element. The number of electrons in the
outermost shell is called valence electrons
and the outermost shell is called the valence
shell. The valency of an element is determined
by the number of electrons in the valence
shell. It is important to know the atomic
number and electronic con"guration of an
element to "nd its valency.

Atomic Number
The concept of atomic number and Valency
can only be understood if you know what
exactly elements are made up of. An element
is made up of a single type of atom. An atom
is the smallest indivisible unit of matter. It
consists of electrons, protons and neutrons.
The centre of the atom is also called the
nucleus which is positively charged and
consists of protons and neutrons. Protons are
positively charged. Neutrons are neutral so
that it doesn’t have any charge on them. The
nucleus is surrounded by negatively charged
electrons.

The sum of protons and neutrons gives the

atomic mass of an element. The atomic
number is the total number of protons
present in the nucleus of an atom. It is
denoted by the letter Z. The chemical
properties of an element are determined by
the number of protons in the nucleus. This is
why the knowledge of atomic numbers is
important in understanding the chemistry of
elements.

The following table gives the list of 118

elements along with their symbols and atomic
number.

Conclusion
Out of all the 118 Elements, 98 Elements are
found in nature (those with atomic number 1-
Hydrogen 'H' to atomic number 98 –
Californium 'Cf'; in the periodic table), with
the rest being synthesized from the naturally
occurring elements, in a laboratory. Elements
synthesized in the laboratory
include Einsteinium (99), Fermium (99) and
Nobelium (102). However, this "gure can
change with time and better understanding,
as some elements found after radioactive
decay after nuclear testing experiments,
therefore considered initially to be man-
made, have subsequently been found in
nature albeit in trace quantities.

Also, out of the many elements occurring in

nature not all of them occur in pure or native
form. Noble gases like Helium, Argon, Neon,
etc., are a few elements occurring in pure
form. Metals like Gold, Silver, Copper, occur in
their native form. Non-metals like carbon,
nitrogen and oxygen occur in native form.
Alkali metals and rare earth elements occur
naturally although not in their native form.
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FAQs on 118 Elements and Their Symbols

and Atomic Numbers

1. What is an atomic number?

The atomic number of an element is equivalent to the
total number of protons in the nucleus of the atoms of
that element.

2. How do we calculate atomic mass?

3. What are naturally occurring elements,

and how do they di#er from those that are
man-made?

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4 Comments

Pooja
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March 21 | 10:04 AM

Excellent

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February 18 | 06:55 PM

Excellent work

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January 13 | 01:02 PM

Nice

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December 17 | 06:03 PM

Very nice and thank you

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